Leaping Over Coding Gatekeepers and Other Hurdles
In Retrospect In a decade, my coding identity has run the gamut from disinterested secondary English teacher to invested facilitator. Cue flashback (because Xennials love saying “back in my day”)… Picture it: Wilkie, SK (middle of agricultural nowhere); the year is 2012. “Coding” is about to enter my lexicon. I teach Grade 8/9 English with…
Pear Deck: Test-Driven by a Fangirl
Will reiterating my love for Pear Deck sound like a broken record? I had nearly forgotten this love when Tuesday’s class reignited the spark. Kudos to Group 5! In my previous life as an Online Learning Consultant, I completed the Pear Deck Institute training to guide divisional implementation in the classroom and online. It was…
O Online Learning, Parting Was NOT Sweet Sorrow
This week’s topic – tools for distance and online learning – strikes a personal cord. Memories of my last 2.5 years as an online learning consultant cause an odd mixture of melancholy, anxiety, aversion, and pride to roll through my chest. Anyone in education over the last 3 years might feel a similar twinge. Love…
“My Mind is Like My Internet Browser…” Productivity and Presentation
If you’ve ever come across the well-known internet adage – “My mind is like my web browser: 19 tabs are open, 3 of them are frozen, and I have no idea where the music is coming from.” (Anonymous) – I’m confident the author was describing me. Regardless, it seemed an apt quotation for our debate…
Pivot, Pivot, Pivot: My Evolving Philosophy of Knowledge and Learning
PIVOT! PIVOT! PIVOT! A video timeline seemed in order for this week’s blog on my philosophy of knowledge and learning. You can view the entire timeline at Canva here. Here is an excellent Chrome extension I’ve been using lately for those needing subtitles. For those strapped on time, I have included a summary of the…
Educational Technology: Neither Sinner nor Saviour
Defining the Variable: Ed-Tech When I think of educational technology, my (active) imagination transports me to AI classrooms and interactive hologram projections. Part of me views ed-tech as the saviour of classroom to world relevancy; another part of me suffers ominous flashes of Judgement Day and Matrix-laden doom! Of course, that’s not the reality…at least,…
The Mindful Grey: ECI 830 Summary of Learning
Wow, there just are no words. It’s cliche but that first class went by in a flash! Please enjoy my summary of learning. I keep trying to push myself outside of my comfort zones; from podcasts to videos…and now this. Slam poetry! Yes, you read that right, slam poetry…or my attempt at it.
Playing the Digital Footprint Devil’s Advocate
Make no mistake, despite how I debated Monday night, I am firmly in support of teachers and schools having a role in the development of children’s digital footprints. Of course, I wanted to see if I could convince myself of the opposite viewpoint…even just a little.
Hello, Is It Me You’re Trying to Ban?
Two things set this post apart from previous reflections. First, these debate topics seem so interrelated I felt I could finally make a single Monday-night blog entry! Second, (are you ready for it?) I’m completing all of this on my iPhone, from the meme to the Spotify podcast. If we suggest that students can and should use their cell phones for educational purposes, I want to test the practice for myself. As a fairly tech-savvy geriatric millennial, how hard can it be?
Teaching Inside the Social Media Fishbowl
Where my opinion on this debate started and where it ends (though I use that word loosely), has shifted throughout this week. I wanted my post to demonstrate my voice, as well as other voices, and so I tried something different (for me) using Canva.
In the end, I firmly believe in positive intent and continual learning and unlearning of social justice issues. Everyone is at their own point in this journey; if you are comfortable and have capacity, I would be honoured if you shared your current position on this issue…